Stronger
by xThisGirlIsOnFirex
Summary: When Santana is diagnosed with a dangerous illness, she thinks that her whole life is over. She soon meets Dani and thinks that she's finally moved on, but then Brittany turns up unexpectedly. Dantana.
1. Paranoid

Stronger

**Summary: When Santana is diagnosed with a dangerous illness, she thinks that her whole life is over. She soon meets Dani and thinks that she's finally moved on, but then Brittany turns up unexpectedly. **

Chapter One: Paranoid

A bang, a great gush of wind and a loud, blood-curling scream.

Those were the three sounds that made Santana's blood boil and her stomach churn. She jumped at the sound of something that sounded like a gunshot and turned in her seat viciously. All eyes were suddenly on her and she realised what an idiot she looked like. She slowly took a deep breath and sat back in her seat, trying to distract herself. It wasn't long before she jumped again, feeling someone touch her shoulder but she sighed a sigh of relief when she noticed that it was only Rachel.

"Hey," the brunette whispered softly. "Are you okay?" Santana nodded faintly. "You know, I should really thank you for getting me this job."

"It's no biggy," Santana said quietly with a sigh as the tram pulled up. "Come on, this is our stop." Rachel nodded and the two girls hopped off of the tram and ran through the front door of the diner. "Here, put this on," she said, throwing a white apron at Rachel as soon as they were inside. Rachel said nothing but obeyed the Latina straight away.

"You're late, Lopez!" A man's voice soon bellowed through the diner and an old man walked straight over to Santana and Rachel.

"I know Gunther," Santana groaned and Rachel soon realised that this was their boss.

"This her?" He asked as Santana grabbed a tray of food from the counter.

"Yes." She nodded, nudging Rachel's arm. "This is Rachel. Rachel, this is Gunther." Rachel nodded at the man with a smile but he took no notice and just made his way into the back of the diner. "You'll get used to him," Santana told Rachel, carrying a tray of food over to a table before heading back to the counter.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Rachel asked, grabbing hold of Santana's arm.

"Yeah," Santana whispered. "I'm fine, why wouldn't I be? I mean, it's not the best job in the world but the performing is fun and it's so much better now that you're here to talk to as well."

"I didn't mean the job," Rachel said and shook her head. "You just seemed so out of it and jumpy on the tram and people were actually staring. What was up?"

"Just thought I heard something but it doesn't matter," Santana said and quickly grabbed another tray of pasta. Rachel rolled her eyes and went to grab a tray as well but jumped when Santana screamed and dropped the tray of food that she was holding.

"Nice work Lopez," Gunther scoffed, walking over. He sighed deeply, grabbed a cloth and handed it to her. "Clean this up and apologise to the customer you were taking it too."

"Yeah, yeah, I've got it," Santana said. "I'll go right over."

"Good, sort your head out Lopez," Gunther said and headed off, shaking his head at the girl. Santana pursed her lips together and knelt down on the floor, beginning to clean the mess up. As soon as she was finished, she walked over to a table where a man and woman sat, clearly on a date. She apologised and walked away as if nothing had happened. It was when she went to grab another tray, Rachel stopped her and grabbed her arm.

"What, Rachel?" Santana sighed.

"Don't what me," Rachel said. "What's going on with you today? You're messing up orders, dropping trays of foods, you're jumpy and you keep whipping round suddenly."

"I'm fine," Santana said. "I just didn't get much sleep last night, okay? I just kept having the same nightmare over and over and it kept me awake. I'm just tired, I shouldn't have come in today but I need the money and he would have moaned at me anyway for not even trying."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah." Santana nodded. "I'm just tired, if it were anything else I will tell you but it isn't."

"Okay but if you feel worst, you need to go home. You are no good to anyone being like this."

"I promise," Santana promised her.

"Can I just make sure that you're going to be okay to go out there and serve customers though?" Rachel asked, holding her hands up dramatically.

"Rachel," Santana snapped and rolled her eyes. "I am fine, stop worrying." Rachel nodded as Santana grabbed another tray and headed out. She watched her leave but then decided to leave it. Grabbing a tray, she followed Santana and went to find the right table number. "Okay," she said with a smile, handing the customers their food. "That's one pepperoni pizza, two lemonades, steak and fries and a children's meal. Is that everything?" The customers smiled back and nodded as Rachel walked off with the empty tray.

"You're a natural." Santana smiled at her, walking over and folding her arms across her chest. She patted Rachel on the back and headed off, carrying on like normal. She soon heard a small giggle behind her and turned round to see a small girl, around the age of eight standing behind her. "Hey sweetie." She smiled at the girl. The little girl just smiled shyly back at her. "Where's your mommy, sweetie?" Santana asked her but the girl just shrugged. "Are you lost?"

"No," she whispered and shook her head. Santana nodded, continuing to clean the table that she'd started on before the little girl came over. She looked up and saw the little girl standing right in front of her. Santana sighed deeply and knelt down on the floor.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Play," the girl said.

"I can't." Santana shook her head. "Sorry, I'm working." The little girl nodded, just as Rachel walked over.

"San, who are you talking to?" She asked.

"The little girl...right there," Santana stuttered, standing up so she was facing Rachel.

"There's no one there, San." Rachel shook her head.

"She...She was," Santana said, turning round and realising that she was gone. "She was standing right there."

"There's no one there," Rachel whispered. "Come on, let's go out the back." Rachel went to lead San out but Santana suddenly screamed out loudly, clutching her head. "Santana, what's wrong?" Rachel immediately panicked. Santana just screamed again. "Sssh, it's okay," Rachel soothed. "I got you." Santana just grabbed the nearest plate and chucked it so it smashed, making Rachel jump in shock. "Calm down, it's okay," Rachel calmed. Santana gripped the edge of the table and fell to the floor, rocking back and forth and screaming. "Someone, get me a phone!" Rachel yelled. "Please!" A random member of staff quickly chucked a cell phone to Rachel. Rachel thanked her and began to dial Kurt's number as fast as she could. "It's okay San," she said, holding the cell to her ear...although she wasn't quite sure herself.

**I hope you like it so far guys :) so who liked the first episode of season 5? I loved it although it's not quite the same without Heather or Dianna, or Cory :( **


	2. Seeing the Doctor

**NayaHeMoGLEEK: Haha I cannot wait for Dani at all, they look so cute in the promo. I love how Santana gets nervous, lol :)**

**Guest: Dantana, I should probably add that in the summary. I couldn't put her as one of the characters because her name hasn't been added to the list yet :)**

**Doodle91xxx: Thank you and no it sadly isn't the same :(**

**LaurenKnight13: That will all come out soon :) **

**MidnightxAngel: Thanks for the review :)**

Chapter Two: Seeing the Doctor

"So...seeing things, huh?" Doctor Cards sighed as he shone a light in both of Santana's eyes. Rachel nodded as she and Kurt stood at the back but Santana just looked completely annoyed.

"No," she groaned, pushing the doctor away as he switched off the flashlight. "She was there, I promise you."

"So, what's wrong with her?" Kurt asked, ignoring Santana.

"Can't be sure," he sighed and stood up straight. "I mean, we have no other symptoms or anything..."

"She was screaming her head off," Rachel pointed out, annoyed that the doctor didn't seem to know anything at all. "In the middle of the diner, isn't that enough for you?"

"Could be stress related," he said and shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay," Kurt sighed. "San, come." Santana rolled her eyes and jumped off of the bed, walking over to Kurt and taking her coat from him. He shoved her out the door straight away and Rachel followed as Santana slipped her coat on. "Well, that was a complete waste of time," Kurt muttered in Rachel's ear and she nodded in agreement. "You called me out of work for this?"

"She was talking to someone who wasn't there," Rachel whispered as Santana just stood at the roadside with her arms crossed, back turned to them. Kurt turned round to face Rachel and waited for her to continue. "And then she just started screaming and had a proper mental breakdown in the middle of the diner."

"Who was she talking to?" Kurt asked.

"She said that a little girl was there," Rachel said quietly and shrugged her shoulders. She glanced over at Santana who was just balancing on the curb at the side of the road, sighing deeply, clearly bored and in deep thought. Rachel bit her lip as a taxi zoomed past. Santana seemed pretty close to the cars but she just left it. She was nineteen and able to take care of herself after all.

"Isn't it possible that the girl could have walked off when you came over?" Kurt asked. "I mean, we have no evidence Rachel and maybe the screaming was caused by stress and exhaustion, I don't know."

"Look Kurt," Rachel said, holding up her hands. "You weren't there, okay? I think I would have seen a little girl walk past me or in the diner. The tables were full and I did not see anyone, there was one child and that was like a two year old boy. I am so confused right now, maybe it is stress related? San did tell me that she didn't get much sleep because of nightmares so...that could have something to do with it?"

"Well, there you go then," Kurt said, relieved. "She's tired and needs sleep, she's just exhausted so I'm sure that she will be fine in a few days when she's due back at work so let's just leave her to it."

"Okay, sorry for bringing you out of work," Rachel sighed. "I thought that it was something really serious, you know? It scared me seeing her like that."

"It's fine," Kurt said with a smile. "Honestly but I do need to get back now though." He glanced over at Santana who was still by the road. "I'm going back to work now, San!" He called but Santana just ignored him. He sighed and waved goodbye to Rachel before walking off. Rachel walked over to Santana and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump.

"Sorry," she apologised. "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Don't worry about it," Santana said. "Where are we going now?"

"I thought that we could just go home," Rachel said. "I can make us some lunch and maybe you could get some sleep, you just need to rest."

Santana nodded. "Come on then, let's go." Rachel nodded and placed an arm round her shoulder as the two girls made their way home. Rachel made them a couple of sandwiches as soon as they got back so they sat eating them before Santana went to take a nap.

"Sorry for making that appointment when you were screaming and whatever," Rachel whispered to her. "I thought that something was wrong, I just needed to make sure."

"It's fine," Santana said. "That doctor was an ass anyways."

"I agree with that," Rachel giggled.

"Well, I'm done," Santana said, standing up. "I'm going to go and get some sleep, okay?" Rachel nodded as Santana washed her hands and headed off to her bedroom. She cleared the plates away but was still convinced that something was wrong with her friend. She decided to sit and watch TV for a bit until half an hour passed and she made her way into Santana's bedroom.

Rachel hated walking in on people when they were asleep but she slowly and gently pushed the door open and made her way inside. The door creaked and she bit her lip, noticing that Santana was lying under the covers in bed. She tip-toed over and peered over to check if she was asleep or not. She was but when she looked, she saw that Santana's wrist was covered in a bright red, sticky liquid.

Blood.


	3. Little Girls

**Doodle91xxx: Haha, I hated the doctor lol :)**

**randomtvjunkie93: Let's hope not :(**

**Guest: No problem and Dantana will be here :)**

**Hakuna-fuckin-Matata: Update is here :)**

**CapuccinoWriter: Hey, I saw the episode and they were adorable. I will always ship Brittana though but Dantana were cute :)**

**tiegray: Me too :)**

**Santanalover16: Thanks for the review :)**

Chapter Three: Little Girls

Rachel had no idea what to do. She didn't want to wake Santana up but she was bleeding and obviously needed to be cleaned up. Rachel took a deep breath and slowly shook Santana's arm, whispering her name over and over. Santana opened her eyes slowly and of course glanced straight at her wrist, suddenly noticing the blood. She sat upright and screamed as loud as she possibly could.

"It's okay," Rachel soothed. "Does it hurt?" But Santana shook her head. "For fucks sake Santana, what the hell did you do?" Rachel asked.

"I didn't do anything," Santana hissed at her. "I promise you, I have been asleep."

"Well, that doesn't look like the sort of injury that happens when you accidentally bash your wrist in your sleep," Rachel pointed out. "I am going to ask you this once and I want an honest answer, did you cut yourself?"

"No!" Santana snapped. "Why the hell would I have woke up and screamed if I had?"

"I don't know." Rachel shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe you cut yourself, caught your wrist in your sleep and made it worst. I don't know Santana but what I do know is that this needs to be cleaned up, it's still bleeding and even going onto the bed. Come on."

Santana nodded her head faintly, climbed out of bed and followed Rachel all the way through to the bathroom. The brunette grabbed the first aid kit and immediately began working her magic on Santana.

"You can tell me, you know," Rachel whispered quietly. "I'm not going to tell anyone, not even Kurt."

"I am going to look you in the eye when I tell you this so you know that I am telling the truth," Santana spat viciously. "I did not cut myself, I have no idea how this happened."

"Do you sleep walk?" Rachel asked. "You could have done it without thinking."

"Now, you are just being stupid," Santana said. "Who the hell self harms when they're sleep walking anyway?"

"Look, I don't have time for lies," Rachel said, holding up her hands.

"You really do not believe me, do you?" Santana sighed deeply, folding her arms across her chest. "After the amount of times I have told you already."

"Well, I'm sorry Santana but this cut looks like self injury to me," Rachel yelled at her. "And I pretty much doubt that someone would sneak into your room whilst you were asleep and slash your wrist with a knife!"

"The girl," Santana whispered softly under her breath but Rachel heard and shot her a confused, worried look.

"What was that San?" Rachel questioned her.

"Nothing," Santana said.

"No." Rachel shook her head. "You said the girl, I heard you but I just wanted you to repeat it. What do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing," Santana said. "Rachel, would you please just leave it?"

"No, you are going to tell me what you mean. Come on, talk to me. I'm your friend, aren't I? What girl? The one at the diner?"

"You can't tell anyone," Santana sighed deeply. "I am not supposed to tell anyone but it isn't the one at the diner. She's a little girl but she scares me so, so much. She's just always there but she doesn't say anything and she just scares me Rachel and I can't get rid of her."

"Okay." Rachel nodded her head, trying not to panic. "Calm down, how often do you see this girl?"

"Every day," Santana confessed. "But mostly when I'm upset or when I'm angry, sometimes she makes me do these things and I don't want to do them Rachel but she makes me and like...my head will go funny, she makes me do these things but then I...I just can't remember doing them Rachel and it's so scary."

"Come here," Rachel said and brought Santana into a hug. "We'll sort this, okay? We'll get you some help."

"No, no, I don't need help. She's real and no one can know about it, I trusted you Rachel," Santana shouted, close to tears. "You said that you wouldn't say anything."

"Okay," Rachel said quickly to stop Santana rambling. "I won't say anything, I promise. Let's just get these cuts sorted and we can get you back to bed, okay? You can trust me San, alright?"

Santana nodded her head. "Thank you Rach, I...I just can't deal with her so you have to give me your word."

"You have my word," Rachel said with a smile. She looked down and finished cleaning up Santana's cuts before bandaging them. "All done, you can go back to bed now, yeah?" Santana nodded her head faintly. "And do not worry about this girl, I promise that she will eventually leave you alone."

"How do you know that?" Santana asked quietly.

"Trust me," Rachel said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "I know."

"Thank you," Santana thanked her once again before making her way back into her bedroom to sleep.

**Sorry I haven't updated in ages yet but I have work, driving lessons and I've started uni so it's been pretty hectic for me. But Heather had her baby and named him Elijah! So cute! And...NAYA RIVERA AND BIG SEAN ARE ENGAGED! So happy :) also who likes Demi Lovato in Glee so far? I do :) x**


	4. Intervention

**Doodle91xxx: Thanks for the review :)**

**Guest: I am not going to say what's wrong with Santana but so what if it is? If you don't like the story so far then just don't review, stop reading instead, simple as :)**

Chapter Four: Intervention

"So, what happened?" Kurt sighed deeply as he and Rachel sat opposite each other on the couch. Santana remained in her room and Rachel wasn't exactly sure if she was sleeping or just sitting in there out of the way.

"I went to check if she was asleep..." Rachel began quietly. "When I walked in there, her whole wrist was covered in blood and when I confronted her about it, she said that she hadn't cut herself and she soon admitted that she kept seeing this little girl who made her do bad things...bad things that she doesn't remember after."

"I'm worried about that girl," Kurt said and shook his head, running his hands down his face. "What are we going to do? The doctor didn't help." Rachel just shrugged her shoulders.

"He was an idiot," she soon said. "Maybe if we take her to see another doctor, she isn't right Kurt. There's something going on with her." The bedroom door soon opened and Santana walked out, yawning. "Hey sweetie, good nap?"

"Yeah." She nodded and turned to Kurt. "You're home?"

"Sure am," Kurt said. "Can you um...come and take a seat for a minute? Rachel and I kind of need a word."

"You didn't?" Santana asked, glancing towards Rachel and shaking her head. Rachel looked down and bit her lip nervously. "You said that you wouldn't tell anyone and that means Kurt!"

"Santana!" Kurt cut her off. "Please, sit down now! I am sorry but this needs sorting!"

"Do not yell at me, alright?" Santana snapped, flopping down on the couch between Rachel and Kurt before running a hand through her hair.

'Okay, hands in the middle," Kurt said. Santana rolled her eyes but obeyed. "Do you both promise that during this conversation we are about to have, there will be calm talking and no yelling of any kind."

"Promise," Santana and Rachel promised in unison.

"And I promise," Kurt said as they removed their hands. "Now Santana, Rachel did inform me on what happened earlier and yes, that included you seeing this little girl, okay?" Santana nodded, folding her arms across her stomach. "Do you want to tell me in detail what this girl does or says?"

"She doesn't say anything," Santana told him. "But she makes me do bad things, I can never remember them but she...she just does."

"Alright," Kurt whispered. "Have you ever thought that this girl and the diner girl aren't real?"

"They are both real and it isn't the diner girl who scares me, it's the other one."

"And when do you see her?" Kurt asked.

"All the time," Santana said and shrugged her shoulders. "Especially when I'm feeling angry or upset."

"And you know they're real?" Kurt asked as Rachel gave Santana's hand a small squeeze. "Or do you just think that they are real?"

"I know that they are real," Santana said through gritted teeth. "I know that they are, what are you trying to say?" She flicked her hair and turned to look at Rachel. "I know!"

"Hey," Kurt calmed and held his hand up. "I said no yelling, calm down."

"Can you please just drop it?" Santana asked, feeling close to tears. "She is real, alright?"

"You're upset," Kurt pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you seeing this girl now?" Santana faintly nodded her head, beginning to cry even harder. "Where is she?"

"You can see her, you jerk," Santana said angrily.

"Yeah," Kurt lied, trying not to get snapped up. "But I would like you to tell me where she is please."

"Standing with her back against my bedroom door," Santana sobbed, sniffing. "Looking at you."

"Looking at me?" Kurt asked. She and Rachel looked and saw that there was no girl standing there at all. "Why is she looking at me then?" He asked, resting the side of his head on the palm of his hand.

"She wants to hurt you," Santana said. "She always looks at people like that when she wants to hurt them." Santana kept her eyes fixed on the spot where she was seeing the girl. "Please don't."

"Why does she want to hurt Kurt?" Rachel asked softly under her breath.

"Because he keeps asking me all of these pointless questions," Santana cried. "And she doesn't like it. She wants him to stop and leave me alone and just go away but he won't!"

"Santana, you need help," Rachel whispered but Santana shook her head. "But Santana, Kurt and I can't see this girl so she must be in your imagination if neither of us can see her."

"You're lying, to make me sound crazy!" Santana shouted.

"Sweetie," Rachel soothed. "If you get help then I promise you that you will never be able to see this little girl again." Santana sniffed and hung her head before looking Rachel in the eyes. "I promise, when have I ever lied to you San?"

"Never," Santana sobbed.

"Exactly, trust me on this one Santana," Rachel said. "Do you trust me?" Santana nodded faintly as she felt Rachel squeeze her hand tighter.

"She'll go away?" Santana asked.

"Eventually," Rachel said. "But you need to try and help yourself first. Do you think that you can do that?"

"I think so," Santana cried, resting her head against Kurt's shoulder and shutting her eyes tight. "I'll try."


End file.
